Great Lakes: IRIN Weekly Round-Up, 9/26/97

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IRIN Weekly Roundup 23-97 of Main Events in the Great
Lakes region, covering the period 19-25 September 1997

BURUNDI: Government says ready to talk peace

Under intense regional pressure to resume the peace
process, Burundian President Pierre Buyoya announced
he was ready to negotiate with Hutu rebel leader Leonard
Nyangoma's Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie
(CNDD). He said the government would participate in
planned all-party peace talks to be held in Arusha,
Tanzania, under the mediation of elder statesman Julius
Nyerere. The pro-negotiations stance has split the
mainly Tutsi Union pour le progress national (UPRONA)
between those hostile to talks with CNDD and a faction
in the government which sees dialogue as a chance to
"buy time", according to local sources. The
government, however, remains sceptical of Nyerere's
even-handedness. Along with most of the country's political
parties, a government delegation is attending a UNESCO-sponsored
meeting on 'Building the Future of Burundi' in Paris
due to begin on Friday. Bujumbura described the gathering
as a chance for brainstorming rather than negotiations.
Regional analysts suggested the government regards
such meetings as an opportunity to dilute Nyerere's
control over the peace process. However, Tanzania-based
FRODEBU leader Jean Minani rejected the Paris meeting.
He told BBC Kirundi radio "the talks are not aimed
at finding a solution to Burundi's problems, but a
solution to Buyoya's problems." Meanwhile, gunmen
ambushed FRODEBU secretary-general Augustin Nzojibwami
in Bujumbura on Sunday. He was unhurt but the car he
was travelling in was shot-up.

Insecurity widespread

Access to many areas of northern Bubanza province is
"impossible" due to the widespread use of
land mines, according to humanitarian sources. However,
more than 30,000 displaced, fleeing fighting between
rival Hutu rebel groups CNDD and Palipehutu, have gathered
in and around the town. Kayanza province to the east
is also receiving a stream of people escaping the violence
in northwestern Cibitoke. Some 20 people were killed
and at least 30 wounded by armed attackers over the
weekend at Gitaza, about 20 kms south of Bujumbura.
Six other civilians were killed at Rushubi, also in
Bujumbura Rural province.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: "Cat and mouse"
with UN

The European Union said the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) risked losing aid if it did not cooperate with
a UN probe into alleged massacres in former Zaire.
President Laurent-Desire Kabila on Tuesday lashed out
at "plots" against his country by western
powers "in the disguise of humanitarian action".
An article in the 'Washington Post' said the remains
of "tens of thousands" of Rwandan refugees
were strewn around the forests of DRC. In many areas,
bones had been "hastily exhumed and burned",
allegedly by DRC and Rwandan soldiers. The article
accused Kabila of "playing cat and mouse"
with the UN mission, which has been unable to leave
Kinshasa. Negotiations continue with the government
on allowing the team into the field. The 'New York
Times' said the investigators "fear the witnesses
they need will disappear". Non-aligned countries
attending the UN General Assembly session on Monday
urged the international community to have some understanding
for the government in Kinshasa.

Eastern DRC quiet but tense

Eastern DRC was reported as "quieter" but
extremely tense. Humanitarian sources said the calm
followed a recent peace conference between the Bembe
and Banyamulenge peoples in South Kivu. Mai-Mai militia,
allied with ex-FAR, Interahamwe and some local anti-Tutsi
tribes have been battling DRC and Rwandan army units
in the region. Bembe fighters are now reportedly being
collectively described as "Mai-Mai". An official
"pacification commission" for the Kivus said
people were in urgent need of rehabilitation and reintegration
assistance. Radio France Internationale claimed on
Saturday that Rwandan troops were bolstering the defence
of Bukavu threatened by the advance south of Mai-Mai
militia. Rwandan helicopter gunships are also reportedly
in operation in Masisi. Humanitarian sources said the
security situation has improved "a little"
in Goma.

Refugees return

Over 2,300 DRC refugees have returned to Uvira across
Lake Tanganyika from camps in Tanzania under a voluntary
repatriation programme launched at the beginning of
the month. UNHCR said it expected the numbers to increase
when a second ferry goes into operation in October.
More than 650 people from eastern DRC, displaced by
the war to Kinshasa, left for Kisangani on three barges
on Sunday. They are due to arrive at the weekend. It
was the first repatriation of war-displaced organised
by the Kinshasa authorities.

RWANDA: Blind eye turned to killings - Amnesty

Amnesty International (AI) claimed at least 6,000 people,
the majority unarmed civilians "are reported to
have been killed in Rwanda between January and August
1997." The rights group accused the army in particular
for the death toll, but acknowledged that civilians
are also victims of Hutu rebel atrocities. The AI report
condemned the international community for "turning
a blind eye to the worsening human rights situation"
and advocating the continued repatriation of Rwandan
refugees. Meanwhile, in the continued insecurity in
Rwanda's northwest region, four children were killed
when a rocket slammed into their school in Gisenyi.
Local officials blamed Hutu rebels for the attack.

Military spending to be slashed

Rwanda is to slash military spending and demobilise
thousands of soldiers. Spending on the army is to be
reduced from 34 percent of the national budget to 20
percent by the end of next year. The head of Rwanda's
demobilisation committee, Ephraim Kabaija, told AFP
it was impossible to maintain the army at present levels.
The government is seeking donor funding for the plan
costed at US$ 39 million. Francois Nzabahimana, leader
of the opposition Rally for Democracy and Return of
Refugees (RDR), dismissed the initiative as a ruse
by Kigali to fund the army's upkeep. Meanwhile, the
defence ministry said Rwandan troops have completed
their mission and withdrawn from the DRC. However,
a senior advisor to Vice President Paul Kagame suggested
there may be an agreement with the DRC for units to
stay on. Claude Dusaidi said Rwandan troops could continue
to operate in Masisi "if it is necessary and if
the Congolese think it is appropriate."

CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE: Displacement and despair

At least 450,000 people have been displaced by the fighting
in Congo-Brazzaville. WFP this week began distributing
food to 60,000 "extremely vulnerable" displaced
in Congo's second largest city, Pointe Noire. At least
300,000 people have been made homeless in the southern
provinces which includes the port city. Meanwhile,
the Kinshasa authorities have partially closed the
border, with only three entry points open along the
river for refugees crossing from Brazzaville. All refugees
have been ordered to register or risk being considered
"infiltrators". The forces of President Pascal
Lissouba and Denis Sassou Nguesso have ignored repeated
ceasefires and fighting has intensified in Brazzaville.
Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas said the conflict, which
began in June, "could lead to the disappearance
of Congo."

UGANDA: No to peace talks with "starving"
Kony

Rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony
is starving in his hideout in northern Uganda, according
to local press reports. Kony, having been forced out
of his bases in southern Sudan last month along with
300 followers, is apparently trying to cross into Kenya.
The Ugandan government has however rejected church
appeals to negotiate with the rebel chieftain. "If
we are to talk peace, then we don't need to talk to
Kony but his masters in Sudan," a minister of
state in the president's office said. The army claimed
to have killed 70 LRA rebels since last month. But
the army is struggling to contain insecurity in the
western region. Rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces
(ADF) launched two raids on the suburbs of Kasese within
a week. In the first attack nine people were abducted
and in the second, on Wednesday, at least 12 people
were killed and an unspecified number of residents
kidnapped.

SUDAN: Breakthrough on peace talks

The Khartoum government and rebels of the Sudanese People's
Liberation Army (SPLA) agreed to resume peace talks
which collapsed in 1994. The breakthrough came at a
one-day ministerial meeting in Nairobi within the framework
of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
(IGAD). The talks are due to be held on 28 October
in Nairobi. Sudan's exiled former prime minister however
questioned the government's sincerity. "Everything
indicates that the (Khartoum) regime is not serious
in the search for a complete solution," Sadiq
al-Mahdi said in Cairo. The talks announcement followed
Khartoum's success in wooing southern rebel faction
leader Lam Akol to the government's side. The leader
of the Upper Nile-based SPLA-United agreed to join
six other former SPLA commanders who had earlier signed
a peace agreement with the Islamic government in April.

ANGOLA: Peace forecast bleak

The forecast remains pessimistic over UNITA's willingness
to meet a UN Security Council deadline and comply with
Angolan peace accords. The UN Secretary-General's Special
Representative, Alioune Blondin Beye, said a resumption
of civil war cannot be ruled out. UNITA leader Jonas
Savimbi warned that the former rebel movement would
abandon the peace process if the UN imposed sanctions
after the 30 September deadline.

TANZANIA: Refugee crackdown

In a bid to stamp out banditry, the Tanzanian army arrested
thousands of "vagrant refugees" in the northwestern
town of Kigoma. The round-up involved refugees living
outside their camps, but humanitarian sources said
non-refugee foreign nationals were also detained. UNHCR
said 4,000 people were arrested in the swoop. According
to the authorities, they "would either be repatriated
or taken to refugee camps". Approximately 1,000
refugees, mainly Burundians, were also arrested in
Ngara. Tanzania has blamed banditry in the region on
refugees living outside their camps. Nairobi, 26
September, 12:30 gmt

[ENDS]

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